Weekly Online Lending Snapshot – November 18, 2016

Another incredibly busy week in online lending! On Monday, we participated in the SEC’s first Fintech Forum. The goal of the event was to discuss a range of technologies and regulatory issues that will hopefully result in improved clarity and a continued dialog around industry regulation. Prosper Marketplace announced that CFO David Kimball had succeeded Aaron Vermut as CEO. They have not announced who will take over the vacated CFO position. It was also reported this week that former Lending Club CEO, Renaud Laplanche, is working on a new lending business called Credify Finance Corp. that hopes to begin originating loans in 2017, and the U.K.’s Zopa intends to launch a digital bank. Lastly, this week’s news about the uptick in delinquencies that have breached the triggers of a handful of securitizations of online consumer loans appears consistent with Orchard industry data showing an increase in charge-offs at originators across consumer credit grades—particularly from the riskier grades of older vintages. However, while we are certainly keeping our eyes on trends in consumer credit, we currently don’t share the alarmist view held by some, that this is sending ‘shockwaves’ through the entire industry.

Note that this report is updated as of Thursday’s market close to ensure we can get it to you before the weekend. Contact us with any feedback or suggestions you may have for future snapshots.